Treaty of Lisbon; Advancing European Union's Energy Security through External Energy Policy.

Abstract

The European Union has faced a number energy challenges, ranging from over dependence on imports, depletion of reserves and uncoordinated energy infrastructure. The current European Union (EU) energy policy is premised on three policy pillars; internal energy market, security of supply and sustainable energy production and use. EU has initiated a number of policies, legislative and institutional frameworks aimed at realising its energy objectives. Critical to this discussion is the granting of shared competence in energy matters to EU under Lisbon Treaty. Shared competence exists in areas where EU and member states are both able to act. Thus member states are free to act in the same area as long as they do not enact legislation that is in conflict with European law or principles. This paper will intrinsically analyse how EU's position has been elevated in acting upon energy issues to improve its security of supply using external energy policy. This paper will navigate through EU's energy statistics, challenges to energy security, pre and post Lisbon Treaty policy issues aimed at security energy supply. The essay will further discuss how EU has used its internal energy market structures to extend its energy policy beyond borders. Finally, the final part will look at the bottlenecks to full realisation of EU's external energy policy and how to improve it. Finally, the conclusion will give an overview of how EU can better serve Europe's energy security.